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Fine trip for Vigri

Landing the catch from Vigri began yesterday after the freezer trawler’s trip came to an end earlier than expected. We spoke to skipper Árni Gunnólfsson when Vigri was off Reykjanes, on its way to Reykjavík. Vigri is now formally part of the HG Grandi fleet following the acquisition of fishing company Ögurvík hf.

‘We sailed on 29th March, so that makes this a four-week trip, and everything has gone well. Fishing has been good and it looks like we have a green weight of 950-1000 tonnes for the trip. Product prices are also fine, although the chief headache is the unpredictability of the the exchange rate,’ he said, commenting that the trip had taken them to a variety of fishing areas.

‘While the cod down south were off limits due to the spawning season, we went north to the Kolka Shallows and the Hali grounds as well. There was some heavy fishing while the saithe were there for the taking. Once the spawning season limits were off and the Selvogur Bank and those areas were opened again for trawlers, that’s where we went. There was heavy fishing on the Selvogur Bank and on the Toe, and it was a surprise to see how much haddock there was. To start with, they stayed deep, down at 160 to 170 fathoms, and then came into shallower water. It wouldn’t have been a problem to do well on cod on the Selvogur Bank, but we weren’t fishing directly on cod this time, but took our cod as by-catch,’ Árni Gunnólfsson said, adding that the last days of the trip went into searching for deep redfish.

‘Unfortunately there isn’t much deep redfish to be seen. The Russian trawlers are also there on the Reykjanes Ridge, out by the 200-mile line, and there will be more of them there before long.’

As already mentioned, Vigri is now part of the HB Grandi fleet, and Árni said that the change is nothing to be concerned about.

‘Our job is the same as it was before – to keep on fishing and do our best. HB Grandi is a top company with outstanding staff and managers, who will be great to work with.’